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A review by luanam
Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction by Irene Gallo
3.0
This was a very nicely balanced anthology that spans the many variations of styles to be found in speculative fiction. It is also a very decent size and the result is that even though I was disappointed by a couple of the stories by my favourite authors (whose inclusions were part of the my excitement in going for this book) the overall enjoyment was not impacted, especially as I found so many new authors and new stories from old favourites, among them:
About Fairies by Pat Murphy - a new author to me and writer of a story that is about fairies and magical worlds but also very deeply about our own and our emotional ties. It is a story that comes with a haunting sense of melancholy both from its magical realism but also from that touch of known reality about age and loss.
The story itself is available free at this link: https://www.tor.com/2012/05/09/about-fairies/
While more of the author's stories can be found (some free/some pay) at the below link:
https://www.tor.com/2012/05/09/about-fairies/
Another one by a new author, and one that was thoroughly enjoyable, was Brimstone and Marmalade by Aaron Corwin - this one had one of my favourite things - adorably funny dialogue. It also has an online story available free :) This next bit is a total spoiler and I was very tempted not to include Though the tone is mostly light there is a heart gutting moment.
https://www.tor.com/2013/10/30/brimstone-and-marmalade-aaron-corwin/
OoooOO I nearly forgot about this one! Damage by David Levine. This centres the story of an AI of a military ship in an intergalactic war who falls in love with her feckwit of a pilot and the decisions that the AI must come to. Story link also available: https://www.tor.com/2015/01/21/damage-david-levine/ (At this point of the review I am starting to wonder just how many of the stories are freely available online lol )
There was also one by one of my favourite authors and it explores different species and how they developed to navigate space. And it too is available to checkout free online! :)
A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel' by Yoon Ha Lee at link:
https://www.tor.com/2011/08/10/a-vector-alphabet-of-interstellar-travel/
There is also a very cute lgbtq story with a little twist in its werecub tail from another new author to me , Dellamonica and it too is available online :)
https://www.tor.com/2010/07/28/the-cage/
And probably one of the most impactful stories on the list is also a deeply harrowing one: 'The Devil in America' by Kai Ashante Wilson, is an intensely pointed and relevant read, set just after the civil war, it delves into the impacts and legacy of slavery across centuries in a story embedded with magic.
Link https://www.tor.com/2014/04/02/the-devil-in-america-kai-ashante-wilson/
Waiting on a Bright Moon by JY Yang, was also another one I want to highlight. It was a beautiful and I want to say lyrical short story but it does involve the use of song magic to form connection portals so the pun quotient my be too high. The world building is pretty bare, even for a short story, but this is one where language and feel takes centre place. There are also points where some of the text is in Chinese and if you can read it, it most definitely would have added a dimension but unable to do so, I still found that I could enjoy the main passage lyricism without detraction just not with the plus :)
https://www.tor.com/2017/07/12/waiting-on-a-bright-moon/
Finally. I have to add The City Born Great by N. K. Jemisin is as always freakin great! I have read this short story a couple of times in other anthologies and it remains one of my firm favourites.
"In this standalone short story by N. K. Jemisin, ...the winner of this year’s Hugo Award for Best Novel, New York City is about to go through a few changes. Like all great metropolises before it, when a city gets big enough, old enough, it must be born; but there are ancient enemies who cannot tolerate new life. Thus New York will live or die by the efforts of a reluctant midwife… and how well he can learn to sing the city’s mighty song."
https://www.tor.com/2016/09/28/the-city-born-great/
There were other stories that also thoroughly enjoyable or thought provoking but this selection I felt highlighted the range to be found and I am sleepy now so will finish here :)
About Fairies by Pat Murphy - a new author to me and writer of a story that is about fairies and magical worlds but also very deeply about our own and our emotional ties. It is a story that comes with a haunting sense of melancholy both from its magical realism but also from that touch of known reality about age and loss.
The story itself is available free at this link: https://www.tor.com/2012/05/09/about-fairies/
While more of the author's stories can be found (some free/some pay) at the below link:
https://www.tor.com/2012/05/09/about-fairies/
Another one by a new author, and one that was thoroughly enjoyable, was Brimstone and Marmalade by Aaron Corwin - this one had one of my favourite things - adorably funny dialogue. It also has an online story available free :) This next bit is a total spoiler and I was very tempted not to include
https://www.tor.com/2013/10/30/brimstone-and-marmalade-aaron-corwin/
OoooOO I nearly forgot about this one! Damage by David Levine. This centres the story of an AI of a military ship in an intergalactic war who falls in love with her feckwit of a pilot and the decisions that the AI must come to. Story link also available: https://www.tor.com/2015/01/21/damage-david-levine/ (At this point of the review I am starting to wonder just how many of the stories are freely available online lol )
There was also one by one of my favourite authors and it explores different species and how they developed to navigate space. And it too is available to checkout free online! :)
A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel' by Yoon Ha Lee at link:
https://www.tor.com/2011/08/10/a-vector-alphabet-of-interstellar-travel/
There is also a very cute lgbtq story with a little twist in its werecub tail from another new author to me , Dellamonica and it too is available online :)
https://www.tor.com/2010/07/28/the-cage/
And probably one of the most impactful stories on the list is also a deeply harrowing one: 'The Devil in America' by Kai Ashante Wilson, is an intensely pointed and relevant read, set just after the civil war, it delves into the impacts and legacy of slavery across centuries in a story embedded with magic.
Link https://www.tor.com/2014/04/02/the-devil-in-america-kai-ashante-wilson/
Waiting on a Bright Moon by JY Yang, was also another one I want to highlight. It was a beautiful and I want to say lyrical short story but it does involve the use of song magic to form connection portals so the pun quotient my be too high. The world building is pretty bare, even for a short story, but this is one where language and feel takes centre place. There are also points where some of the text is in Chinese and if you can read it, it most definitely would have added a dimension but unable to do so, I still found that I could enjoy the main passage lyricism without detraction just not with the plus :)
https://www.tor.com/2017/07/12/waiting-on-a-bright-moon/
Finally. I have to add The City Born Great by N. K. Jemisin is as always freakin great! I have read this short story a couple of times in other anthologies and it remains one of my firm favourites.
"In this standalone short story by N. K. Jemisin, ...the winner of this year’s Hugo Award for Best Novel, New York City is about to go through a few changes. Like all great metropolises before it, when a city gets big enough, old enough, it must be born; but there are ancient enemies who cannot tolerate new life. Thus New York will live or die by the efforts of a reluctant midwife… and how well he can learn to sing the city’s mighty song."
https://www.tor.com/2016/09/28/the-city-born-great/
There were other stories that also thoroughly enjoyable or thought provoking but this selection I felt highlighted the range to be found and I am sleepy now so will finish here :)